Wrong Fuel Carlislea service by Forecourt AssistanceCall 01293 248666Call
4.8/5 from 2,190 Trustpilot reviews24 hours, every dayFree advice · price before we travelFuel Fixer Ltd · 08520551

Gretna drain a fuel tank

Gretna drain a fuel tank? A full tank extraction and line flush, carried out wherever the vehicle is standing. Call 01293 248666 — the technician covering DG16 comes to the vehicle. Call-out £89 to £199, drain £199 to £1,999.

Tap to call 01293 248666

No premises, no recovery truck

The alternative to what we do is a recovery truck, a garage queue and a courtesy car you did not want. Wrong Fuel Carlisle sends a technician to CA1 to CA6 instead, and the job is normally finished where you are standing. Call 01293 248666. There is no Carlisle branch to drive to, which is rather the point.

SearchGretna drain a fuel tank
WhereGretna, DG16
Council areaCumbria
RoadsA74(M)
What it isFuel drain
CostCall-out £89 to £199, drain £199 to £1,999, quoted in full before we travel
Time on siteAbout an hour
Phone01293 248666
Map of the council areas and postcode districts Wrong Fuel Carlisle coversCumberlandCA1 — Carlisle EastCA2 — Carlisle South WestCA3 — Carlisle NorthCA4 — Warwick Bridge, Wetheral, Cumwhinton, ArmathwaiteCA5 — Dalston, Burgh by SandsCA6 — Longtown, Bewcastle
Shaded: the council areas we cover. Dots: the postcode districts inside them. Boundaries: ONS, Open Government Licence v3.0; contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right.

Why misfuelling happens in Gretna

Gretna sits across the DG16 postcode district and the A74(M), with Carlisle, Stanwix, Botcherby and Harraby next door. Most calls from this area come from supermarket forecourts at the end of the working day, when the pumps are busy and the driver is thinking about something else.

A large share of Carlisle calls come from drivers who are not from Carlisle — border traffic on the A7 and M6 north, hire cars collected at the station that morning, and long-distance drivers making their last fill before the border.

Why one direction so outnumbers the other comes down to the pumps themselves. Diesel nozzles are wider than petrol filler necks at most forecourts, so that mistake is largely designed out. Nothing designs out the reverse.

When it happens: The busiest window is early evening on the Kingstown and London Road forecourts, and a second, smaller peak overnight from the M6 at Southwaite.

Gretna drain a fuel tank: what to do

Extract, flush, refill, prime.

The four stages that decide the bill

Tank, lift pump, filter, high-pressure pump, injectors — in that order. A vehicle caught before the key turns has contamination in stage one only, and that is a straightforward extraction. Each further stage the fuel reaches is another part that may need replacing, which is why the first question on the phone is always whether the engine was started.

Step by step

  1. Stop. Do not turn the key Whatever else happens, this is the decision that matters. Contamination only travels under power.
  2. Resist the urge to move it The instinct is to get out of the way. Unless you are somewhere dangerous, staying put is the cheaper instinct to follow.
  3. Safety before diagnosis If you are on a live carriageway, get out and get behind the barrier, and let the police or National Highways deal with the lane first.
  4. Phone 01293 248666 You will be asked four questions and given a price and an arrival window. Both are honest rather than flattering.
  5. On-site extraction The tank is emptied, the feed lines are flushed, fresh fuel goes in and the system is primed and run.
  6. Done, and the waste leaves with us Under a waste transfer note. It is not tipped and it is not sold back to you.

Ratings, praise and the one recurring grumble

4.8 out of 5, drawn from 2,190 Trustpilot reviews. Praise centres on dependable timing and technicians who keep things friendly when a driver is stressed.

The grumble is cost. Rather than soften it: £89 to £199 covers the call-out, £199 to £1,999 covers the drain, and quoting happens over the phone, before travel, every time.

Questions we get asked

Can you come to a supermarket forecourt?

Yes, and it is where a good proportion of jobs happen. Tell the cashier a drainer is on the way; they are used to it.

How much does it cost in Gretna?

Call-out £89 to £199, drain £199 to £1,999. The full price for your vehicle is confirmed on the phone before a technician sets off, so there is no surprise when we arrive.

What happens to the old fuel?

It leaves with us as controlled waste under a waste transfer note. It is not tipped, and it is not resold to you.

Do you cover all of CA1 to CA6?

Yes, from one rota — so being at one edge of the area rather than the other changes the arrival window, not the price.

Who you are dealing with

Wrong Fuel Carlisle is a service by Forecourt Assistance. Forecourt Assistance is a trading name of Fuel Fixer Ltd, company no 08520551, a company of Fuel Fixer International. Registered at Fairway House, Portland Road, East Grinstead, RH19 4ET. Fuel Fixer International is owned by Stockbridge Capital Holdings.

Across the network

Wrong Fuel Carlisle is one of the sites run by Forecourt Assistance, a trading name of Fuel Fixer Ltd, part of Fuel Fixer International, owned by Stockbridge Capital Holdings. Every site below belongs to the same company.

Background reading: GOV.UK guidance on fuel.

Last updated · Reviewed by Rambo S, Wrong Fuel Expert